Resurrection of Christ by Carl Bloch: Easter Morning in the Tomb, as a Vintage Poster (1875)
The stone has split, the guard has fled and left his helmet and sword on the ground, and Christ rises from the dark tomb with his arms lifted towards the light. Two angels kneel on either side, one with hands joined in prayer, the other with a hand pressed to the heart, while white lilies bloom at his feet. The Danish painter Carl Bloch dated this Resurrection of Christ 1875, and it belongs to the famous cycle of the life of Christ he painted for Frederiksborg Castle in Denmark. The picture below is our vintage poster of the painting; the original is shown further down.
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Artist: Carl Heinrich Bloch (1834–1890), Danish painter
Title: Resurrection of Christ
Date: 1875
Series: The life of Christ for the King’s Oratory at Frederiksborg Castle (23 paintings, 1865–79)
Location: Frederiksborg Castle, Hillerød, Denmark
Subject: Christ rising from the tomb on Easter morning, with two angels
The commission of a lifetime
Carl Bloch was in his early thirties when he was commissioned to paint twenty-three scenes from the life of Christ for the King’s Oratory, the royal chapel at Frederiksborg Castle in Hillerød, north of Copenhagen. The work took him some fourteen years, from 1865 to 1879, and the originals are still at the castle. The series has become hugely popular as illustrations of the life of Christ, reproduced in churches, books and homes around the world. Resurrection of Christ, dated 1875, comes from the heart of that cycle, alongside works such as Christ on the Cross.
A body of light in a dark tomb
Bloch builds the whole picture around contrast. The rock walls of the tomb are almost black, and out of them the white figure of Christ seems to glow from within, his robe falling in heavy folds and a soft halo around his head. His arms are open and raised, not in effort but in thanksgiving, and his eyes look upward. The two kneeling angels, with great white wings, frame him like the sides of an altarpiece, and the broken slab beneath his feet tells us that the grave has been forced open.
The details that tell the story
Look at the lower corners. On the left lie a soldier’s helmet and sword, left behind by the guards who, according to the Gospel of Matthew, were set to watch the tomb and became “as dead men” when the angel appeared. On the right, the cracked stone lid of the tomb has fallen aside. In the middle, white lilies, the traditional flower of purity and of Easter, grow out of the rock as if the earth itself were coming back to life.
Why it works as a vintage poster
The Sapiens Verbum poster sets Bloch’s luminous Christ under a classic title panel, keeping the strong contrast between the dark tomb and the radiant figure. It is a natural choice for Easter, a meaningful gift for a confirmation, a baptism or a person of faith, and a striking image for a church hall, a study or a prayer corner. For Bloch’s most loved image of Christ, see Christus Consolator by Carl Bloch; for more sacred art, browse our Sacred Art: Paintings and Vintage Posters page; and for the story that comes just before Easter morning, read The Entombment by Michelangelo.
Hang Bloch’s Resurrection of Christ — the raised arms, the kneeling angels and the Easter lilies — as a vintage art poster from the Sapiens Verbum print shop.
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Hang the scene as Bloch painted it, with every fold of light and shadow in place, as a print, canvas or framed print from the Sapiens Verbum print shop.
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💬 Over to you: Which detail speaks to you most: the raised arms, the kneeling angels or the abandoned helmet? And where in the world are you reading from? Tell us in the comments.
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